No charges will be brought after a long-running investigation into claims former MP Cyril Smith abused boys.

Police said 29 people came forward with allegations against the late Rochdale MP, including rape, dated between 1960 and 1987.

The accusations against Smith, who died aged 82 in 2010, centred around a residential school in the town.

A separate investigation into claims of abuse at Knowl View has also ended, police have said.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the allegations against Smith would not be taken further as it "does not make hypothetical charging decisions for deceased suspects".

'Catalogue of failures'

Current Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk, who has worked to expose Cyril Smith as a prolific paedophile, said the failure to get prosecutions was "a scandal" and "devastating for the victims" who had been "let down".

"Perpetrators will sleep safer in their beds tonight because of Greater Manchester Police's failures."

Mr Danczuk claimed the force made a "catalogue of failures" in the 80s and 90s.

GMP declined to respond to his comments.

Image caption
Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk said victims have been let down

Police started a major inquiry into Knowl View, a council-run residential school for boys from dysfunctional backgrounds, in 2014.

A total of 14 files involving 27 suspects were sent to the CPS, resulting in one man being charged.

He has denied 19 counts of indecent assault and is due to face trial this year.

Mr Smith was a governors at Knowl View which shut in 1992.

An undercover police operation that gathered evidence of child abuse by Cyril Smith and other public figures was scrapped shortly after the MP was arrested.